BuzzMath is a platform where middle school students develop mathematics competencies corresponding to the Common Core standards. The project issues Open Badges aligned to these standards as students complete activities on buzzmath.com.

The BuzzMath team from the small software development firm Scolab wants to help students in grades 6 through 8 achieve competency in the mathematics standards included in the Common Core State Standards system. To this end, the website guides students through “practice documents” and “challenge documents” targeting each element of the standards (Figure 2). These take the form of sets of assessment questions that progress in difficulty and build on learned concepts as they go. They are designed to complement classroom instruction and assessment. In addition, teachers that use BuzzMath in their classrooms will be able to track their students’ skill development through an integrated dashboard

Preface The information contained in this project appendix was gathered from the original project proposal that was funded in 2012 and interviews with project leaders through the end of 2014. This appendix and the overall design principles database from the…

Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt and National Design Museum and technology partner LearningTimes proposed to build the DesignPrep badge system (which at the beginning was called Design Exchange). Their program is a digital badge system that has been integrated into Cooper-Hewitt’s DesignPrep program, which engages underserved high school students in New York City in design activities. The program provides youth the opportunity to develop design, collaboration, and presentation skills through participating in activities focused around fashion, architecture, and 3D design.

Design for America (DFA) is an interdisciplinary network of university students and community members. The project aims to create local and social impact by using the needs of the community members to guide design and interaction within the system. This Human Centered Design (HCD) approach allows the project to have a broad focus on design, while creating learning opportunities that meet specific needs of users within that broader domain. Students in the program have developed designs to conserve energy, reduce the potential of acquiring infections in hospitals, and promote reading literacy, among other topics. Founded at Northwestern University in 2009, Design for America has since expanded to other universities across the country. Currently, several studios of student teams are located nationwide, operating as extracurricular programs.

S2R designed their medal system to allow students to progress through different levels of mastery in three different areas of journalism, targeting the roles of Journalist, Producer, and Coach. Moreover, they wanted to guide students through these badges along a…

Intel and the Society for Science and the Public (SSP) partnered together in an effort to design a badge system that would recognize the accomplishments of middle and high school students worldwide. Specifically, the project awards badges to students for their achievements in scientific research and participation in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) and Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) educational programs.

The badging initiative LevelUp is the result of a partnership between Adams County District 50, EffectiveSC, and Intific. LevelUp is a web-based platform for students to map the progression of their learning experiences on their own, personal competency map, with the capacity to take effect across systems and institutions, including “K-12 schools, colleges, extra-curricular activities, or job training”

Radionoff, K. (2013). Madison college case study: Using digital badges to access non-credit learning outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/KateRadionoff/mozilla-presentation-researchers-final As included in Kathleen Radionoff’s case study, the National Council on Continuing Education and Training (2004) explored the division/separation of credit and non-credit…

Preface The information contained in this project appendix was gathered from the original project proposal that was funded in 2012 and interviews with project leaders through the end of 2014. This appendix and the overall design principles database from the…

MOUSE offers opportunities for youth to develop skills and dispositions that can translate into the workplace and apply across professional settings. The program trains youth to join teams of help desk experts who provide technology support during the school day. This offers an environment that mirrors the workplace and enables students to gain practical experience. In school, youth receive the opportunity to lead in the field of technology, cultivating skills, and strengthening identities as valued contributors in technology-driven environments, in preparation for the careers and workplace that they would eventually enter. MOUSE explains that their “goal has always been to capture the milestones that emerge along the way as points of reflection (and as wayfinding devices) that empower the user to pursue pathways forward and demonstrate their expertise in learning and professional contexts where not enough of their experiences are being counted” (HASTAC MOUSE Q&A). By introducing youth to communities of practice, MOUSE enables them to gain exposure and develop their skills and teamwork in an age-appropriate professional work setting. The program extends students’ experience after school by connecting them with a peer community with shared interestsy support during the school day. This offers an environment that mirrors the workplace and enables students to gain practical experience.

Regardless of where you start, it’s more than likely you’ll end up somewhere other than your intended destination. That’s okay. Systems are living things, and your badge system needs to be flexible. You must embrace a bit of chaos in its design.
-Carla Casilli, Director of Design + Practice at the Badge Alliance